Tuesday, March 22, 2011

03/22/2011
The United Nations, egged on by the western powers, including the United States, approved the no-fly zone on Libya, the excuse of which that these air attacks on Tripoli are meant to protect the Libyan people from Kadhafi’s “barbaric” attacks on the Libyan people.

That is pretty hypocritical, considering the fact that the Libyan people can be categorized as pro-Kadhafi in Tripoli and anti-Kadhafi, who are based in Benghazi and who are being protected by the big powers such as France, Britain and the US. Apparently, for the western military powers, the people of Libya they recognize as Libyan people are the anti-Kadhafi people who comprise the opposition, as the air strikes are intended only for those Libyans in Tripoli..... MORE

03/22/2011
I am told there’s growing resentment on the Internet, on blogs, e-groups, on comment space that follow some op-ed columns, and yes, on FaceBook, over the general presumption we cannot be as the Japanese are, in the face of catastrophe.

It wasn’t easy for me to understand the texts. For instance, I didn’t know that “cla” was shortcut for “sila” and “kc” was “kasi” and yes, I had no idea what “lapad” meant, until a family member said it referred to the 10 thousand yen note, wider than the rest of the denominations of 1k and 2k, so therefore “lapad,” from “malapad.” But I noticed the derogatory use of “sakang,” an epithet used to describe World War II Japanese, and from there recognized the anger.

Which I must admit I don’t understand. To be onion-skinned in the face of criticism does not accomplish anything. We should instead ready ourselves to prove detractors wrong, anywhere, anytime, come hell or high water, and yes, come earthquake. Thing is, when was the last time we’ve proven ourselves truly capable?.... MORE

03/22/2011
Surprises never end under the P-Noy administration. Just when everybody thought that the reported bitter rivalry between the so-called Balay and Samar factions has somewhat ebbed we are once again receiving messages about its resurgence. This time, nastier and more intense. The evidence? The nasty give-and-take over the role of Dr. James Dy and his group in the resolution of the Taiwan issue which was apparently pooh-poohed by the Balay group as preposterous. One observer who must have Samar sympathies even volunteered information that the Balay group’s leader, former Senator and Chief Presidential Troubleshooter Mar Roxas, was overheard as saying that victory has a thousand fathers or words to that effect during one of the press conferences announcing the end of the Taiwan problem. Earlier, Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa’s alleged ownership of the unfinished White Plains “glass house” was nursed and blown out of proportion by what his Samar supporters suspect were Balay loyalists. And the list of slights, innuendoes and special operations between loyalists of both sides get longer by the day..... MORE

03/22/2011
Many will be familiar with the theory that Jose Rizal was Hitler’s father, but the version sent to me by one Tribune reader goes somewhat further.

Queen Victoria was a twin, with a brother who was probably autistic. As a young man known as Prince Julian McLeod Tallano, he moved to Borneo, became chairman of the North Borneo Company, took Princess Tarhata as his wife and converted to Islam. An affair with a second princess produced an illegitimate son.

This son was raised by the Mercado family in Calamba, Laguna and named Jose Protacio Mercado. Jose referred to himself, however, as Rex-Al (king of all), which became corrupted into Rizal.

Having gained his medical degree in Germany in 1886 (actually 1887), ophthalmologist Rizal took his first patient: Josephine von Bracken, niece of Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, the first Emperor of Germany, and a grandson of Queen Victoria. Rizal operated on Wilhelm also – so successfully that he was introduced to Wilhelm’s relative, the Emperor of Austria..... MORE

“The two stations in the Fukushima region reportedly produce the world’s largest joint amount of energy. If complete meltdown occurs in any of the Fukushima reactors, this may lead to a much worse contamination of the atmosphere than the one that was caused by the Chernobyl disaster.” – Dr. Romy Quijano, toxicologist.By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com
Stop underplaying the possible effects of worsening nuclear trouble in Japan.

This was the call made by one of the country’s leading toxicologists and the scientist group Agham (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People) to the Philippine and Japanese governments in the wake of the escalating problems concerning Japan’s nuclear power plants.

Dr. Romy Quijano said government officials and the dominant media should stop downplaying the possibility that the nuclear radiation from Japan will reach the Philippines. He said to say that the radiation leak is minimal and pose no significant health risks is “a gross misrepresentation of facts.”

Quijano is also the president of the Pesticide Action Network Philippines.

Agham for its part said that both the governments of the Philippines and Japan should issue clear guidelines and information regarding the nuclear hazards resulting from the accident in Japan.

Both Agham and Quijano said the growing industrial disasters in the Fukushima reactors in Northeastern Japan should prompt both governments to be transparent in reporting the incidents in order to avoid panic and disruption for both Japanese and Filipinos alike.

“The government of Japan should be transparent and open about telling the world about the updates regarding the nuclear accident,” said Agham in a statement posted on its website.

“Because of rapid developments in the situation of the Fukushima nuclear power plants; and because the Filipino people have had very limited experience in facing nuclear hazards, we call on the Philippine government to plan in advance possible scenarios that could result from the ongoing accident.”.... MORE

“Both structural and non-structural approaches should be adopted to lessen the impact of disasters. Hazard mapping must also be done for priority areas. In making hazard maps of local scale, it is best that community and scientific data are combined. Results of hazard mapping should be properly disseminated to population at risk.” – CDRC

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIOBulatlat.com
Environmental and cause oriented groups have called on President Benigno Aquino III to pay wider attention to Disaster Risk Reduction. The escalating nuclear situation in Japan, the recent earthquakes in Haiti, Zealand and Japan, as well as the continuing heavy rains in the Philippines have prompted groups like the Disaster Response Center (CDRC) to call on Aquino President Benigno Aquino III to assess the disaster preparedness of the country. Cause oriented groups have been hounding the current administration because in the past, the government has always been ill prepared for disasters even as the country is disaster prone.

According to reports, Malacañang has already directed the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to assess the disaster preparedness of the country in the event of a quake-tsunami incident. Items for review include assessment of building safety standards, and status of tsunami warning systems.

Earlier, the CDRC welcomed Aquino’s move to support DDR efforts.

“We’ve been calling for our leaders to prioritize DRR since CDRC started. The President’s act of support to DRR efforts is well appreciated,” said Lourdes Louella Escandor, executive director of CDRC.

In 2010, CDRC called on the then newly-sworn president to prioritize DRR on his first 100 days in office. I said that Aquino should prioritize disaster preparedness and to fully implement Republic Act (RA) 10121 Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management which passed into law on May 27, 2010.

The DRRM Act calls for all government agencies and adjunct institutions to develop, promote, and implement a comprehensive National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP) to strengthen the capacity of the national government and the local government units (LGUs) to build the disaster resilience of communities. The law calls for the institutionalization of arrangements and measures for reducing disaster risks, including projected climate risks, and enhancing disaster preparedness and response capabilities at all levels.

It’s also stated in the law that disaster risk reduction education should be integrated in the school curricula, and that mandatory training should be given to public sector employees.

CDRC gives community residents trainings on disaster management(Photo Courtesy of The Jordan Family / bulatlat.com)

The Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the National Youth Commission and government science and environment agencies are tasked to integrate disaster risk reduction and management education in the school curricula of secondary and tertiary level of education, including the National Service Training Program whether private or public, including formal and nonformal, technical-vocational, indigenous learning, and out-of-school youth courses and programs..... MORE

Because there seems to be no end to the increases in the prices of oil products, people’s organizations are calling for a nationally-coordinated strike on March 31 saying that oil companies are lying when it cites world crude prices in justifying increases in local pump prices. By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com

Various people’s organizations are calling for comprehensive steps, including the conduct of street protests and strikes to stop the oil companies from imposing more price increases. People’s groups are marking March 31 as a “national day of protest” against oil price hikes.

Earlier this week, youth group Anakbayan held a protest in Quezon City against the ninth oil price hike of the year, calling the increase unjustifiable even by what they called “the Big 3′s unreasonable standards.”

Oil companies Shell, Petron, Chevron and small players are expected to take advantage of the spiking world crude oil prices to further impose frequent price hikes to the disadvantage of consumers. Oil prices have increased four times in the past two weeks. Last Tuesday, oil companies raised prices of gasoline and diesel by P 1.50 ($0.03) per liter and kerosene by P 1.25 ($0.028) per liter, the third time in eight days, making the accumulative increases in the prices of gasoline by P 6.75 ( $0.15) per liter for gasoline and P 6.50 ($0.148) per liter for diesel since January this year.

(Photo Courtesy of PISTON / bulatlat.com)

“Whenever the price of crude goes up in the world market, local oil companies automatically follow suit. But whenever world market rates go down, local pump prices don’t follow” said Anakbayan national chairperson Vencer Crisostomo.

“There is no basis at all for the latest oil price hike, or for any this year for that matter, seeing that local petroleum products remain overpriced by the end of 2010,” said Anakbayan spokesperson Vencer Crisostomo..... MORE

If the text message attributed to Liberal party (LP) spokesman, Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya allegedly threatening members of the House of Representatives to vote to impeach Chief Ombudsman Merceditas “Merci” Gutierrez or face the risk of losing their share of the most-sought after pork, the Priority Development Assistance fund (PDAF), and the alleged pressure coming from the influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) on lawmakers to reject the Ombudsman’s impeachment case are both true, then majority of the members of the lower chamber must have preferred their PDAF over the future of their political careers.

The House yesterday was poised to vote to impeach Gutierrez which would put to conclusion to the Palace-driven impeachment express at the House level.

The boom of the railroaded impeachment case was so deafening it silenced the minority bloc in the House, who all wailed in unison of the lack of due process accorded to Gutierrez.

And this was on top of the minority bloc’s demand for a probe of the “Abaya text message” which Minority Leader, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman claimed insulted the integrity of the House..... MORE

Rain meanwhile complicated rescue efforts and compounded the misery of tsunami survivors fearful of dangerous radioactive leaks from the wrecked Fukushima power station, which has suffered a series of explosions and fires.

Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said Tokyo had ordered the suspension of shipments of milk and certain vegetables including spinach from regions around the plant after abnormal radiation levels were found in the products.

But “even if you eat and drink them several times it will not be a health hazard. So I would like you to act calmly,” Edano said at a televised news conference..... MORE

The British government urged the Philippines yesterday to strongly support a United Nations Security Council resolution allowing allied forces to launch military strikes against Moammar Gadhafi but the Aquino administration stopped short of condemning the Libyan leader as it made a final plea to Filipino workers to leave the besieged North African nation.

United Kingdom Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie met with the Foreign Affairs Underecretary Erlinda Basilio at the Department of Foreign Affairs to brief the government on Britain’s action to implement UN Security Council Reso-lution 1973 and asked the Aquino administration to offer its “strong support.”
“We must not stand aside while a dictator murders his own people. It is important now for the whole international community including the Philippines to support the implementation of the resolution,” Lillie told reporters after the meeting.

Avoiding an overtly hostile position, the DFA said in a statement that it abides by the UN Security Council decision to impose a no-fly zone over Libyan airspace “as a member of the UN and a signatory of the UN Charter. The DFA state-ment did not mention Gadhafi by name or referred to the allied forces military strikes that have been launched against Gadhafi’s forces to enforce the no-fly zone order..... MORE

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said missing lawmaker Panfilo Lacson can safely come out without fear of being arrested, citing that the Court of Appeals (CA) has recently denied a motion for reconsideration and has ruled that its earlier decision lifting the arrest warrant against the fugitive senator is now “final and executory.”

But it appears that the Dacer family, will be filing a motion before the Supreme Court, which may put a monkey wrench on the return of Lacson.

She said she received a text message but wants to read the resolution first.

She said that while there are still options, including appealing the CA decision to the Supreme Court, she explained that they will be first meeting shortly with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to lift the “red notice” flag placed on Lacson by Interpol..... MORE

03/22/2011
As the price of the seaweed goes up in the world market, the people living in the coastal places in Lanao del Norte are venturing into seaweed farming particularly that the provincial government and its leaders are in full support to their endeavor.

Some 131 seaweed farmers from Barangays Pigcarangan and Tanguegueron in Tubod, capital town of Lanao del Norte, received 60 kilos of seaweeds planting materials last March 17 from the Provincial Agriculturist Office and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 10.

Through these seaweed materials, the farmers can exponentially increase the number of seaweeds once planted under the sea and eventually it will yield exponential results.

The farmers can harvest double or triple the number of seaweed planted as by nature this kind of stuff can easily multiply or reproduce like cultured mushrooms..... MORE

03/22/2011
Mother Nature seems to be protecting the Philippines as earlier report that radiation from the quake crippled nuclear plant in Japan might reach to the Philippines would not be pushed through due to a low-pressure area (LPA) there, state weather forecasters said yesterday.

Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) weather bureau chief Robert Sawi said winds from Japan are also going eastward, away from the Philippines..... MORE

03/22/2011
Manila City Mayor Alfredo Lim yesterday hinted that a higher officer of the Manila Police District (MPD) had kept the ransom instead with the other five policemen who surrendered following the issuance of a shoot-to-kill order against them.

The MPD exec is now investigated in connection with the missing money paid by Malaysian kidnapped victim Eric Shin Tong.

Lim said it during the regular flag raising ceremony yesterday owing to a revelation made by prosecutor who handled the case as one of the cops Senior Insp. Peter Nerviza admitted that they gave the money to their chief then Station 5 Commander Col. Felipe Cazon Jr.

Source said that there is an attempt to slow down the investigation as another ranking MPD official refused to obey Lim’s order in connection with the retrieval of some documents from another key officials involved in the operation in arresting the kidnapped suspect..... MORE

Filipinos were sent into earthquake and tsunami scare yesterday night as a magnitude of 5.8 quake jolted major parts of Luzon, including parts of Metro Manila, a day after a magnitude of 6.1 quake hit Northern Luzon.

In an interview over GMA 7, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs) head Renato Solidum Jr. said the quake was recorded at 6:36 p.m. and was tectonic.

“This is our initial estimate the quake’s magnitude registered at 5.8 at the stretch of 34 km. The epicenter was near Lubang Island as the fault moved,” Solidum said..... MORE